Make Me Forget
by SarBear98
Summary: The Past is one thing you can’t forget it will always haunt you whether it is bad or good. What will happen when a figure from Kate’s past comes back into her life she never thought she’d see again or even a Best Friend who knows all about her past. Will she run away or confront the person of her past?
1. Chapter 1

"Kate? Earth to Kate?" a familiar voice said trying to break Kate out of her daze

"Hmm?" Kate said looking at her old friend

"I was saying, how does it feel to be back working together?" her friend said staring at her closely

"Like you never left" Kate said focusing back on her friend

"So I see the Boss knows you?" she said pointing towards a tall dark man standing at the end of the gangway watching them descend onto Hammersley

"Well Nikki, let's just say it's a past I'd rather forget" Kate said taking a quick glance back at Mike as they walked towards their cabin

"This is going to be so fun having you on board" Nikki said smiling as they approached their cabin they would share together

"Can't wait" Kate said entering the cabin behind Nikki and shutting the door behind them.

Nikki Caetano her best friend, they had met on HMAS ANZAC together before she left to Cairns for a posting Kate not long followed 2 years later. When Nikki left HMAS ANZAC Kate was the only woman left on board all the Men gave her a hard time with constant teasing and name calling.

When a transfer to Cairns came up she took it straight away especially when she found out Nikki was still on board Hammersley in Cairns.

When she arrived in Cairns last week she surprised Nikki, who offered for her to stay until she could find a permanent place to live, her first meeting at NAVCOM was a few days after arriving and let's just say she never expected to see this certain person again who turned out to be her new CO.

Nikki and Kate had formed such a close bond when working on HMAS ANZAC together that Kate confided in her and told her things about her past she had never told anyone including a certain Man whom she had a relationship with then he left out of nowhere without a goodbye with nothing but a note.

She never revealed to Nikki the name of this man but she always knew it would come back to bite her in the butt and hard.

Mike Flynn, a name she never thought she'd hear ever again or a man she'd never thought she'd see again. The man she gave her heart to all those years ago only for him to break it and leave. And now she was faced with him being her new Commanding Officer on board Hammersley.

How was she supposed to work with him let alone be in such a small space for months on end?

Seeing him again after all these years shook her quite a lot, 6 years is a long time but seeing him again brought up all those old feelings she tried so hard to hide away and keep them buried.

Nikki had left their cabin to go and check in on the bridge leaving Kate alone unpacking her bags when she heard a knock at the door she turned around and opened it and much to her dismay there was Mike Flynn standing there smirking in all his handsomeness

"Kate McGregor well I never" he said smirking at her

"Mike Flynn, never thought I'd see your face again well actually part of me hoped I wouldn't" Kate said standing there crossing her arms

"Nice to see you too Kate" Mike said standing in the doorway, Kate couldn't help but cringe at him saying her name

"Don't call me that please Sir" she said with a tone

"Right sorry, when Maxine rang and told me I'd be getting a new XO I never imagined it would be the famous Kate McGregor" Mike said looking her up and down.

Kate had suddenly become very self-conscious "Yes well, when I got offered the position I never imagined you'd still be serving on a Patrol boat I thought you'd be given a promotion by now" Kate said taking a seat at her desk.

"Promotion includes a shore Posting"

"Which you'd never do" Kate interrupted him knowing full well he would have been given several promotion offers but he would have turned them down to be able to stay at Sea.

"Right well, I'll let you get settled in" Mike said turning to leave "Oh and Kate, it's nice to see you again" he said looking back as he left making his way towards the bridge.

Kate couldn't help but smile as he left, even after everything it was good to see him and he still looked as handsome as ever.

Kate made her way up to the bridge after unpacking her things as she entered all eyes were on her she smiled awkwardly as she made her way to stand next to Nikki,

"All right everyone listen up" Mike said clapping his hands in attention as everyone stopped what they were doing to look his way

"This is the new Executive Officer Kate McGregor, I'd like you to treat her with the same respect as any other superior officer" Mike said as people began making their way over to Kate RO was the first one to make his way over

"Names RO are you Kate McGregor, as in Princess Perfect?" he blurted out, the smile from Kates face dropped

"Just ignore him Ma'am, I'm Charge, and this is Buffer" he said shaking her hand as he pushed RO out of the way

"Nice to meet you" Kate said smiling.

"Right now we've gotten the introductions out of the way can we go on Patrol" Mike said standing next to Kate who moved slightly as she could feel the heat of his breath on her neck.

"Yes Sir" Nikki said pulling Kate towards the Navigation system

"Welcome to Hammersley Kit Kat" Nikki smirked as she slightly nudged Kate's arm.

Kate smiled at her already feeling uneasy about her first Patrol aboard Hammersley.

Hammersley pulled out of the docks and headed towards their first Patrol, to say being nervous was a understatement especially with having to work so closely with Mike but at least she had her best friend to be there to get her through and even be a barrier between her and Mike Flynn.

Just how was she going to tell Nikki that their Boss was the man from all those years ago?


	2. Chapter 2

Kate made her way down to her cabin at the end of her watch, Nikki had been finished her watch for a few hours so was already asleep in their cabin they shared.

Mike seen Kate walk past so he wanted to catch her before she went down for the night "X" he said coming out of his cabin

"Sir?" Kate said stopping in front of hers turning around to face him

"How was your first watch?" Mike asked smiling at her

"Well, it was different"

"Different?" Mike asked confused

"To a Frigate, Sir" Kate smiled awkwardly at him

"Right… Look Kate I haven't had a chance to talk to you privately since you joined us, as you know when we met at Watson Bay I never expected to see you again let alone on the same ship" Mike said trying to get his point across.

"The opportunity came up to serve on Hammersley for 6 months I took it Sir" Kate said trying to keep her Private life separate.

"Why? I mean you're a big ship kind of person" Mike said as Kate interrupted him

"Yes your right I am a big ship kind of person"

"Chief of the Navy if I remember" Mike said smirking at her

"Yes, well sometimes dreams change Sir" Kate said starting to feel uncomfortable that he knew her so well.

Nikki awoke to voices outside the cabin, she knew one of them was Kates and the other sounds quite a lot like Mike she slowly made her way down from her bunk and stood next to the door to listen in.

"Yes I suppose they do" Mike said sadly at her

"As for anything else that happened between us I'm sure two professionals can work together Sir" Kate said hoping he knew exactly what she was trying to say

"Yes, I'm sure they can" he said putting his hands in his pocket

"Well, goodnight Sir" Kate said turning around to open her cabin door

"Goodnight Kate" Mike said softly as he turned and walked back to his cabin.

As Kate entered her cabin she came face to face Nikki looking at her confused.

"Nik, I didn't realise you were awake" Kate said moving past her and taking a seat on her rack.

"Obviously, what's going on with you and the Boss?" Nikki asked sitting next to her

"Eavesdrop much" Kate said smiling at her friend

"Well only a little, bit I did overhear the part about you and the Boss having history" Nikki laughed.

Kate just smirked as Nikki sat their puppy eyed hoping for the Goss.

"So?" Nikki said nudging Kate's arm.

"Do you remember that time we stayed up late on shore leave talking?" Kate started saying

"Yeah, we were talking about past relationships and family" Nikki said wondering where things were going

"Well remember when I mentioned a certain man I was dating in Watson's Bay and he left with nothing but a note?" Kate said as she watched Nikki's eyes widen

"OMG!!" Nikki screamed, Kate immediately placed her hand over her mouth

"Shh" Kate said as she slowly removed her hand

"The CO is the man you dated?" Nikki said more calmly as she tried to hold back her excitement.

"Yeah, but I never thought I'd see him again, let alone be on the same ship" Kate said softly

"But if you dated at Watson's Bay that would had made him" Nikki began saying as her eyes widened even bigger

"Nik?" Kate asked worried as she stared at her blankly.

"He was your Professor!" Nikki shouted once again, Kate looked at her seriously trying to tell her to be quite

"Right sorry" she said as she hopped off Kates rack and started pacing back and forth.

"Are you alright Nikki?" Kate asked a little worried

"Yeah, I'm just trying to process this. So let me get this straight you and the Boss had a relationship while he was your Professor. How did you not get caught?" Nikki asked throwing her hands in the air.

"Luck I guess" Kate joked.

"Oh my god Kate McGregor, you shady lady" Nikki joked.

"Gee thanks Nik" Kate laughed as she threw her shoes at the end of her rack.

Nikki sat back next to Kate and placed a hand on her arm

"Does he know about the other thing?" Nikki asked now she knew who the man was

"No! And I'd rather he didn't ever find out" Kate said placing a hand on Nikki's

"oh I'm sorry Kit Kat" Nikki said leaning her head on Kate's shoulder.

Kate leaned her head against Nikki's as they sat there in silence.

Nikki left their cabin in the early hours of the morning for her shift careful not to wake Kate as she left even though Kate had been awake the whole night tossing and turning.

Her talk with Nikki got to her more than she wanted to admit, the last time she had ever spoken about her time at Watson Bay was when her and Nikki were on HMAS ANZAC together even if she never mentioned Mike to her.

She knew there was no point trying to get any sleep now considering she had to get up in less than an hour, so she pushed herself out of bed and made her way towards the bathroom turning on the shower she stripped her clothes and stepped inside for a warm shower to help wake herself up.

She slowly made her way to the bridge less than 20min later with two mugs of coffee, one for her and Nikki as she entered Nikki turned around in the Captain's chair she wasn't expecting anyone on the bridge for a least another hour.

"Kit Kat, what are you doing up doesn't your shift start in 30 minutes?" Nikki said as Kate handed her a mug of coffee.

"I couldn't sleep" Kate said taking a sip of her coffee as she took a seat in the Navigators chair.

"Did you sleep at all?" Nikki asked looking over at her

"Not really"

"You could of woke me, I would have kept you company" Nikki said smiling at her

"You had the early shift, it's fine I'll get a nap in later when I'm not on watch" Kate said hearing the bridge door open. Kate and Nikki looked back to see Mike walking up the stairs

"Good morning Nav" Mike said making his way over not noticing Kate

"Morning Sir" Nikki said smiling at him and looking at Kate.

"Oh X, I didn't think your shift started yet?" Mike said surprised to see her.

"I was awake anyway Sir" Kate said while looking out at Sea.

"Ok… Nav you can go on break for a bit I'll take care of things here" Mike said smiling at her as she moved out of the Captain's chair.

Nikki smiled at Kate as she walked past to exit the bridge, Kate instantly felt uncomfortable being alone with Mike, especially after her long talk with Nikki the night before.

Mike took a seat in the Captain's chair and looked over at Kate "So were you and Nav throwing a party in your cabin last night?" Mike blurted out looking at her with a questioning glance

"Uh, no" Kate said confused.

"You sure, I heard quite a few screams coming from the direction of your cabin" Mike said looking out at Sea.

"Nik can be a little over the top sometimes" Kate laughed at him

"Nik?" Mike asked confused

"Oh sorry Nav" Kate said as Mike looked at her surprised

"How do you know Nav so well?" Mike asked looking over at Kate

"We served on HMAS ANZAC together, we became really close" Kate said smiling.

"Right, so does she know about your past, like as in Watson Bay?" Mike blurted out refusing to look at Kate.

"Yes, she's my Best friend we've spoken before about a few things" Kate said knowing exactly what he was getting at.

Mike looked at her in surprise "Does she know about…."

"Yes Mike, she knows about us and Watsons Bay" Kate said interrupting him.

"What?!" Mike said surprised

"What you get to tell Maxine but I have to keep it a secret from my best friend" Kate in anger

"First of all Maxine didn't know any names just that it was a blonde haired student and secondly I work with Nav" Mike said biting back.

"So do I, but she is also my best friend she knows me. Plus, she overheard us in the hallway last night." Kate said shifting out of the Navigator's chair.

"If anyone finds out, you know we could both loose our careers" Mike said moving out of his chair and following her, Kate turned around on her heel

"Seriously! You only care about yourself and your career, you always have it's how you ended up here living the fancy life and having it all" Kate said throwing her hands in the air.

Kate stormed off down the stairs before she said something she'd regret, Mike followed after her

"Kate, wait…" he said following her outside onto the deck.

"I told you don't call me that! We agreed to keep things professional Mike, for both our sakes" Kate said stopping and breathing in the fresh air.

"Yes we did but, seeing you again it's…" Mike began saying but Kate cut him off

"Oh don't! don't even say it! You left, you broke my heart I will not go through that again" Kate said moving to look over at the water and away from Mike, who followed her once again.

"I had a reason for leaving do you not care or want to hear it?"

"No Mike, I don't want to hear any of your excuses I think leaving with nothing but a note tops them all"

"Kate…" Mike said moving closer to her.

"No Mike, I don't want to hear it I have a to get to my watch" Kate said pushing past him as she did he grabbed her wrist.

"Kate please, just let me explain..." he said as he held her wrist

"I don't care anymore, I've wasted to many years crying over you" Kate said refusing to look at him as she snatched her arm back and made her way inside.

Kate made her way into her cabin to freshen up she burst through the doors and ran into the bathroom closing the door and locking it behind her.

Nikki was sitting at their desk when Kate barged through, she got up from her chair closed the cabin door and knocked softly on the bathroom door "Kate? Is everything alright?" she asked through the door

"Not really…" Kate said answering through the door

"Can you unlock the door please?" Nikki heard the latch click as she opened the door to see Kate sitting on the bathroom floor crying.

"Oh Kit Kat.." Nikki said sitting beside her and pulling her into a hug

"Mike, he went right off at me for telling you but yet he's aloud to tell whoever he wants" Kate said between sobs.

"Who did he tell?" Nikki asked as she was brushing a hand through Kate's hair

"Maxine"

"What?"

"Yeah apparently she already knew, she just didn't know a name"

"God I'm sorry Kate"

"It's been 6 years Nik I can't keep running away every time I see his face or he wants to talk" Kate said shifting to sit up

"Kit Kat… there's a lot of history there, it's not going to go away overnight" Nikki said reaching from some toilet paper and handing it to her to wipe her stained cheeks from the tears.

"I wonder how he would react if he knew everything that happened after he left" Kate said scrunching up the now wet paper and throwing it into the toilet.

Nikki looked at her surprised "You didn't tell him did you?" she asked confused. Kate turned to look at her

"He doesn't deserve to know Nik; it wouldn't have changed things" Kate said shifting to stand Nikki following suite

"Maybe if he did know he would have stayed?" Kate walked out of the bathroom and sat on her rack

"Nik, it's not the kind of thing you say to get someone you love to stick around"

"I know, are you going to tell him eventually" Nikki asked following Kate and sitting back at the desk.

"I don't know" Kate said fiddling with a chain and locket around her neck

"Kate… I know it must be hard with his anniversary coming up but Mike deserves to know about him" Nikki said sitting in front of Kate in the desk chair.

"How do you tell someone that their child they'd never had the chance of meeting is dead?" Kate said looking down at the chain on her neck.

"I don't know but I'm here to help you through it" Nikki said placing a hand on Kate's.

"I miss him so much" Kate said opening the locket that was on the chain.

In the locket was a small photo of a small child in its mother's arms, Kate closed the locket and turned it over rubbing her finger over the engraving it read: 'Michael Wayne McGregor 2.4.13' Kate began to cry as Nikki pulled her into a hug to comfort her and dry her tears.


	3. Chapter 3

Kate had met the rest of the Crew throughout the Patrol which consisted of ET, Spider and Swaine.

The rest of Patrol went well; Kate had accidently steered Hammersley into what seemed like a buoy which turned out to be attached to a crate at the bottom of the Sea that was filled with drugs they had come across a drug trafficking ring.

Swaine and ET dived down to have a look when the buoy started flashing they immediately rushed to the surface before it exploded. Hammersley moved just behind the horizon to catch them people who planted the bomb in the act coming back to collect their prize.

Kate was waiting in the RHIB with Spider as they intercepted one of the boats heading towards the pickup point there were two men on the boat the owner of the boat was going on about how his brother was supposed to do the pickup and that he needed to be warned.

When they apprehended them Mike spoke through the radio saying that the man's brother unfortunately didn't make it.

Kate watched as the man lunged towards her as he did Kate hit him with one swift movement in the leg making him drop to the ground as she cuffed him. Spider watched on in disbelief that the X had taken him down.

As they waited for Hammersley Kate sat with the owner of the boat trying to get through to him about helping them

"You need to help put these people in jail" Kate said sitting next to him

"Because I'm so grateful for what you've done" he said referring to his brother

"They were prepared to kill both of you for collateral damage, don't you want to see them punished? I can't make any promises but if your prepared to give evidence against them we might be able to cut a deal" Kate said looking at the owner of the boat and the other guy.

They looked at each other and the owner spoke "No one was supposed to get hurt" he said shaking his head

"Someone always gets hurt"

"oh yeah, what would you know? Nice middle class chicks like you are born with a silver spoon in your mouth" he said refusing to tell her anything

"Really?" Kate asked trying to not be offended.

"Yeah.. Well what?" he said looking at her

"I've got a brother, well I had a brother" Spider turned around from in the wheelhouse looking over at them Kate didn't notice as she continued.

She just smirked at the owner as she looked out over the water "He got involved in the drug scene, he came to me asking for money I told him to get lost. It was tough love I thought anyway they found him in his car dead with a needle still in his arm" Kate said looking between the two men who looked shocked

"Now let's get started, give me some names"

"Now do a deal mate, I sure as hell don't want to rote in prison" his friend said as he nodded his head

"Start writing" he said as Kate reached for her notebook and pen, looking back over towards the wheelhouse she noticed spider watching and listening.

It turns out that the man's brother wasn't actually dead and Mike faked it to get the owner of the boat to talk.

Kate was getting ready to leave later that day when they arrived back at Port when Mike walked up next to her

"Spider seems to think you're a hero" he said smirking at her

"What?" Kate said surprised

"And he's under the impression that you're Wonder Woman" Mike said laughing

"Oh, you didn't already know that?" Kate said joking.

"I also wanted to say ah I'm sorry about your brother" Mike said leaning against the railing

"Sir?" Kate asked now confused

"Spider overheard you talking the men about your brother" Kate's mouth curved a little

"Well, first of all Spider has a big mouth, and secondly I have no idea what you're talking about I don't have a brother" Kate said smiling as she walked past him and left the ship heading over towards where Nikki was waiting.

As Kate and Nikki arrived home they placed their bags at the door and plopped on the couch

"I really need to find my own place, I can't keep imposing on you" Kate said throwing a throw pillow at her on the other end of the couch

"I told you Kit Kat it's fine honestly, plus I enjoy the company" Nikki said throwing the pillow back at her.

"Now, on an important note... Dinner?" Nikki said not really wanting to move from the couch looking over at Kate she smirked

"Pizza?" they both said at the same time,

Nikki laughed as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialled the pizza place, as she did Kate arose from the couch and made her way to the spare room to unpack and have a nice hot shower.

An hour later Nikki called for Kate as the pizza arrived

"Kit Kat, dinner" she yelled as Kate came running down the hallway in her PJ's

"Whoa slow down, you'll break something" Nikki said pouring some wine.

"Nik! My necklace! It's gone, I must have left it on Hammersley or it fell off" Kate said placing a hand on her bare neck.

"Ok calm down, have you checked your bag?" Nikki said placing her arms on Kate's shoulders to calm her.

"It's the only thing of have of…"

"Don't worry, we'll find it. You've probably just left in in our cabin" Nikki said reassuring her.

"We'll go have a look in the morning, now have some food" Nikki said passing her a plate with Pizza on it and a glass of wine.

Back on Hammersley Mike was finishing up some last minute paperwork in his cabin before grabbing his bag and making his way out of his cabin.

As he was making his way off the Gangway towards his car he noticed something shinny he made his way over to it and picked it up, it was a necklace with a locket.

He made his way over to his car and got inside brushing the dirt off the necklace he noticed it had an engraving on the back he threw his bag onto the passenger seat as he read the engraving 'Michael Wayne McGregor 2.4.13'

"What the..." Mike said in confusion as he pressed the light on in the car to see he opened the locket to revel a photo of a younger looking Kate with a small baby in her arms.

Mike clicked shut the locket in anger as he threw it on the passenger seat he pulled on his seatbelt and started the car making his way towards Nikki's house knowing full well Kate was staying with her until she found a place.

Nikki and Kate were lying on the couch watching TV when there was a loud thud at the door

"Who's that?" Kate asked in confusion

"I don't know" Nikki said as she made her way over to the door and opening it to reveal Mike standing there

"Boss? What are you doing here so late?" Nikki asked looked at her watch and back at him

"Um, sorry I just needed to talk to Kate is she here?" he asked looking over noticing her on the couch

"Ah sure, come in" Nikki said moving aside as Kate arose from the couch

"Sir?" she said softly as she looked at Nav

"Could we have a minute?" Mike asked Kate pointing out to the Patio

"Ah Sure" she said smiling weakly at Nikki and following him out onto the Patio and shutting the door behind her.

"Ah, so what's up?" Kate asked looking strangely at Mike as he leaned against the railing

"I just wanted to return something" he said smiling at her

"Sorry?" Kate asked in confusion as Mike moved his hand in front of her with her necklace dangling off his finger

"My necklace, how did you?" Kate said taking it from him

"I found it, in the dirt near the car park. Interesting engraving on the back or so I thought until I opened it up" Mike said getting agitated.

"Mike…" Kate began saying but Mike interrupted her

"Why Kate?" Mike asked in sorrow

"Why? You mean why didn't I tell you? Or say anything?" Kate said feeling tears form in her eyes. Mike looked at her blankly

"You left Mike, did it really matter whether or not you knew?" Mike looked at her coldly

"Yes! I had a child and you never once told me about it"

"You may have been his biological father Mike, but you weren't there! You weren't there when I went into premature labour, you weren't there when I spent every day in the ICU with him, and you weren't there when I had to bury my Son!" Kate said getting angry and upset

"Buried?" Mike asked in shock

"Yes, he was born premature there was complications and he died from a fever" Kate said rubbing her finger over the engraving on the locket.

"You should have told me Kate, at least that I had a child" Mike said sitting down in the chair

"I didn't get a chance, you left Mike with nothing but a note I might add" Kate said as she put her necklace back on.

Kate took a seat in the other chair next to Mike

"I'm sorry Mike, but your partly at fault for not sticking around to be told that you were going to be a dad, you chose your career once again" Kate said looking over at him

"That's not entirely true Kate" Mike said looking at the ground

"You were so young Kate, I didn't want to ruin your chance at having a successful career I knew your dream was to be chief of the Navy and I didn't want to stand in the way of that. I chose to leave to give you the opportunity to move on with your life and move up the career ladder, the opportunity came up to be CO on a Patrol boat thousands and miles away so I took it to be out of your life for good." Mike said still refusing to look at her

"That wasn't your decision to make" Kate said annoyed

"You had a bright future ahead of you Kate and you were dating your professor if people found out you wouldn't have had a career to move up in" Mike said now looking up at her

"You were 22 Kate, dating someone 12 years older than you it was doomed from the start" Kate looked at him in anger

"It was my life Mike, you had no right to plan my future for me" Kate arose from her chair and started pacing back and forth

"I was so in love with you, do you know how much it hurt when you left?"

"Yes! It hurt like hell for me to Kate a pain that faded but never really left" he said arising and making his way over to her.

"Kate..." Mike said placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her from pacing,

Kate turned around to face him with tears streaming down her face Mike pulled her into a hug wrapping his arms around her small figure, Kate wrapped her arms around Mike's waist as she buried her head against his chest letting the tears fall as Mike leant his chin on the top of her head.

Kate was first to pull away as she looked up at him with tears in her eyes

"Tomorrow is his anniversary; each year I go to the beach to place flowers on the water. Maybe you'd like to join me tomorrow if…"

"I'll be there" Mike said interrupting her as he kissed her forehead pulling her into another hug.

It was late when Mike left, Nikki had gone to bed early Kate slowly crept into Nikki's bedroom and slipped into her bed

"Is everything ok?" Nikki asked as she felt Kate slid into her bed

"It will be; he's coming with me tomorrow" Kate said looking over at Nikki

"Is that a good idea?" Nikki asked turning to face her as she flicked on the bedside lamp

"I don't know, but now he knows the truth it might be comforting"

"For you or him?" Nikki asked giving Kate a questioning glance

"Both…" Kate said reluctantly

"You don't still have feelings for him do you?" Nikki asked worriedly

"What! Of course not" Kate said laughing it off as she moved off the bed

"Kate"

"Night Nik" Kate said rushing out of the room before Nikki could confront her.

Kate went to bed that night with so many things on her mind,

Could Nikki be right?

Could she still have feelings for Mike Flynn?


	4. Chapter 4

Kate awoke early before Nikki so she wouldn't get a lecture about Mike, she slowly made her way outside to her car. She made her way to the shops to buy some Daisy's and Sweet Pea flowers a mix of her baby's birth month flowers.

Kate made her way to the beach and sat in the car with a coffee waiting for Mike, he was supposed to meet her at 9am and it was only 8:30am.

Each year Kate would go to the beach on Michaels anniversary and release his birth month flowers into the water, she wasn't sure how it came about except that the beach calmed her after his funeral, so Nikki brought some flowers and they released them into the water which became a tradition each year on the anniversary of his death.

For the last 2 years Kate had been doing it herself since Nikki left to be on Hammersley but now they were serving together again, Kate hoped they could do it again that was until Mike found out about their child.

Nikki awoke around 10am to find the house in silence, knocking on Kate's bedroom she opened it slowly to reveal an empty bed making her way into the kitchen Kate had left a note 'Nik, I left early to get some flowers, I'll be at the beach I'll contact you when I'm done Kit Kat x' Nikki turned on the kettle just as her phone rang

"Nik?" Kate's voice said through the phone

"Kate? Is everything ok?" she asked worried

"Are you free?"

"Yeah, where are you?" Nikki asked making her way to her room to get dressed

"The beach" Kate said

"Alright I'll be there in 10" Nikki said as Kate hanged up the phone.

Nikki arrived at the beach when she said to find Kate sitting in the sand knees up to her chin and flowers sitting next to her.

"Kit Kat?" Nikki said making her way over to her and sitting next to her

"He didn't show... he didn't show" Kate said starting to cry as Nikki pulled her into a hug

"Oh Kate, I'm so sorry" she said kissing the top of her head

"I don't know why I expected any different, it's not like he was there for the start" Kate said wiping the tears away as she looked at Nikki

"Come on" Nikki said helping Kate up and grabbing the flowers

"Where are we going?" Kate asked as Nikki interlocked her hand with Kate's and dragged her towards the pier

"To continue OUR tradition" Nikki said as they stooped at the end of the pier Nikki handed Kate one of the flowers bunches while she held the other

"Don't worry about Mike, ok this is our thing and it always will be our thing" Nikki said brushing a piece of hair behind Kate's ear

"You ready?" she asked as Kate nodded her head they leaned over the railing and dropped the flowers in

"He would have been 6 this year" Kate said as Nikki pulled her into a side hug

"And I'm sure where ever he is he gets your flowers every year, come on lets go home" Nikki said wrapping a arm around Kate's waist as they walked back to the cars.

Nikki drove Kate home leaving her car at the beach as she was in no condition to drive, as they pulled up into the drive way they spotted Mike's car and him sitting on the front stop waiting for them. Kate looked over at Nikki as they opened their doors and made their way to the front door.

"Kate, just let me explain" Mike said as Nikki began to unlock the front door, Kate gave Mike an angry look as Nikki opened the door Kate walked through

"Kate… Please" Mike said trying to follow her

"I think it's best you leave Sir, today is hard enough for her with having to deal with this" Nikki said placing a hand on his shoulder to stop him from entering.

"I need to explain" Mike said looking down at Nikki

"Yes I understand that, but now isn't the right time" Nikki said hoping he would get the picture and leave

"I'll call her later" he said turning to leave

"I think that's best" she said moving inside and shutting the door.

Nikki made her way to Kate's bedroom she slightly knocked

"Kate, he's gone can I come in?" she asked trying the door handle but it was locked

"I'll come back and check on you late" Nikki said leaning her head against the door listening for any sound of Kate.

Kate heard her footsteps descend into the direction of the lounge as she laid on her bed staring at the ceiling the tears began slowly falling down the side of her face when she heard her mobile vibrate, rolling over to her side she reached to the bedside table where her phone was sitting opening it up she saw there was a text from Mike.

Reluctantly she pushed herself up to sit up on the bed leaning against the headboard she opened the message

'Kate, I'm sorry just let me explain' Kate scoffed at the message as she started tying away to reply

'I'm not interested, you have no Idea how much today meant to me and you promised' 2 seconds later her phone vibrated with a reply

'I got held up doing something, I tried ringing but it went straight to voicemail'

Kate got out of the message to check her recent calls there was one from Mike but he never left a message, going back into her text she replied back to him

'I don't want to hear anymore excuses Mike, from now on I want our relationship to be purely professional and nothing else' Kate sent the message and threw her phone across the room.

Making her way out to the lounge where Nikki was watching TV she sat next to her on the couch, Nikki turned off the TV and looked at her

"I'm sorry about before Nik" Kate said looking apologetically at her

"It's ok Kit Kat, like I said I'm going to always be here for you even if you don't want me too" she said placing a reassuring hand on Kate's shoulder

"Come here" Nikki said opening her arms for Kate to give her a hug, Kate moved slightly and rested her head against Nikki's chest as she embraced her in a hug

"It's just so hard with his anniversary and Mike being back in my life" Kate said moving her head to rest it on Nikki's shoulder.

"Did you speak to him?" Nikki asked as she held Kate's hand in comfort

"He messaged, probably figured it was safer that way I wouldn't hang up on him" Kate said sniffling

"He made up some excuse about getting held up, I told him that from now on our relationship would be strictly professional"

"How's that going to work?" Nikki asked as Kate shifted to look at her

"What do you mean?" Kate asked in confusion

"Well Kit Kat, it's obvious you still have feelings for him" Nikki said knowing her best friend all too well.

"It's that obvious hey" Kate said snuggling back against Nikki's shoulder

"Yeah, I'm afraid so" she said leaning her head against Kates.

Nikki awoke early the next morning to the sound of her phone ringing, she shifted off the couch and made her way to the kitchen where it was on charge.

"Hello?" she said answering it

"Nav, it's the CO sorry it's early we've been crash sailed can you inform the X we need to leave Port in 2 hours so you need to be on board in 30minutes for inventory" Mike said sternly

"Yes Sir, see you then" Nikki said as Mike hanged up she made her way into the lounge to wake Kate up.

After talking and both crying last night they ended up falling asleep on the couch together. Kate had awoken when Nikki's phone rang so she sat up right as she heard Nikki making her way back over

"Crash sailed?" she asked wiping the sleep out of her eyes

"Yeah, CO needs us there in 30 minutes" Nikki said smiling weekly at her

"Righto let's get ready then" Kate said determined to not let the past day's events ruin her love for being out at Sea.

Kate and Nikki arrived at Hammersley just under 30minutes they made their way to their cabin to get settled in before Kate made her way onto deck to help with the inventory, Mike watched on from the bridge at Kate, hoping that when's she's free next he might be able to get a minute with her.

Kate could feel Mike watching her from up on the bridge, she looked up at him as he spotted her he turned around and busied himself in the bridge while Kate finished the rest of inventory.

Hammersley left port when they were scheduled to Kate made her way up onto the bridge ready for the Patrol ahead she made her way over to Mike who was sitting in the Captain's chair

"Where are we off to Sir?" she asked refusing to look at him as she asked "We've been tasked to help HMAS ANZAC who have broken down in the middle of the Arafura Sea" Mike said looking at Kate as she stared out the window in disbelief, why did it have to be them

"I have some paperwork I need to finish" Kate said making her way out of the bridge,

"Time till we arrive Nav?" Mike asked Nikki who was sitting in the Navigator's chair and putting the coordinates in

"9 and a half hours Sir" Nav said looking over at him

"Very well, I'll be doing some paperwork in my Cabin, Nav you have the ship" he said getting out of the Captain's chair and headed towards the stairs

"Yes Sir, Navigator has the ship" Nikki said as she moved out of her chair and into the Captain's.

Kate was sitting in the Senior Sailor's mess when Mike walked in with an arm full of Paperwork under his shoulder

"Ah sorry, I'll go somewhere else" he said turning around to leave

"It's fine Sir" Kate said moving her paperwork next to her to make room for him across from her.

Mike took a seat opposite her as he opened his files he looked over at her, she had her head buried in her paperwork and several loose pieces of hair fell down her face, he couldn't help but think how beautiful she looked as she was concentrating.

Kate could feel his eye's on her as she tried everything in her will power to not look up at him, but she couldn't help it as she looked up she caught his glance he smiled weakly at her she couldn't help but smile back.

"Kate... About yesterday…" Mike began saying as he closed his folder

"Not another excuse Mike, please" Kate said closing her folder she was working on

"No excuse, I just wanted to say sorry" Mike said smiling at her.

Kate sighed softly

"Like I said in the text Mike, from now on whatever goes on between us is strictly professional" Kate said shifting to stand.

"And exactly how's that going to work with our past history?" Mike said shifting to stand also

"Exactly Mike, History past tense" Kate said crossing her arms over her chest

"It may be past tense Kate, but we still are connected each year for the anniversary of his death" Mike said realising he had put his foot in it

"What?! You didn't even show up yesterday so why would every year after be different?" Kate said getting angry

"And I tried to explain exactly why I wasn't there" Mike said moving in front of the door so she couldn't leave

"We had a moment a few nights ago and you said you'd be there! I needed you and you never showed up" Kate said reaching for the door handle

"And if you'd let me explain things would be different right now" Mike said grabbing her hand

"I don't want to hear any more of your excuses!" Kate yelled trying to pull back her arm.

As Kate pulled her arm back with such a force she pulled Mike with her causing them to fall down as Kate's back hit the ground Mike landed on top of her

"Get off me!" she yelled as she tried to push him off she moved her head upwards not realising how close her and Mike's faces were their lips touched,

Kate pulled back in shock as she placed a hand over her face "Oh god, I'm sorry" she said moving her hand and placing it on Mike's shoulder hoping he would move off her.

Instead he looked deep into her eyes as he moved a hand up and brushed her hair out of her face, Kate closed her eyes as he touched her face not noticing he had leant down to kiss her until she felt his lips against hers.

Kate moved her hands up around Mike's neck as he kissed her Passionately placing his hand on her cheek, as Mike moved his hand down to her waist Kate could feel his member against her thigh as there was a knock at the door

"Kit Kat?" Nikki said through the door, Mike pulled away from Kate as they heard Nikki's voice

"Just a second!" Kate yelled as she hit Mike's shoulder making him move off as he stood up he pulled Kate with him

"Kit Kat?" he joked as he took a seat fixing his uniform up

"Shut up!" Kate said playfully hitting him as she took a seat across from him and straightened her shirt up

"Come in" she said as they both pretended to actually be doing work.

Nikki opened the door surprised to see Mike sitting across from Kate "Oh sorry Sir" I didn't see you there

"I was just going through some paperwork with the X" he said smiling at her

"Right… Um Kate could I have a word?" Nikki said looking over at Kate whose hair had fallen out of her pony tail

"Sure" Kate said smiling

"Ah, in private" she said looking over at Mike

"Right sorry" Mike said smirking at Kate as he grabbed his files holding them in front of his crotch to hide his member, Kate couldn't help but giggle slightly as he awkwardly moved post Nav closing the door behind him as he made his way to his Cabin.

Nikki took a seat in Mike's vacant spot "Did I interrupt something?" Nikki asked smiling at Kate as she pointed to her hair that was out of place.

Kate fixed her hair up as she spoke "So what's up?"

"Oh nothing just thought I'd save you from the boss" Nikki said laughing as Kate moved out of the chair.

"Thanks but I didn't need it" Kate laughed as she opened the door.

Nikki made their way back up to the bridge while Kate went to place her files back in their cabin. She couldn't help but think about what happened between her and Mike, if Nikki hadn't interrupted them could it have gone further than what it did.

How was she supposed to be around Mike now after what just happened?

God he made her so infuriated but no matter how much she tried to deny it she was and would always be in love with Mike Flynn.


	5. Chapter 5

Mike made his way up to the bridge as they arrived at their destination, HMAS ANZAC had blown an engine and needed to be repaired before they could head back to port.

Charge was sent over with Kate and Mike, while Nav was left in charge of Hammersley. Kate never thought she'd have to see her old crew again but unfortunately luck wasn't on her side.

While Charge was helping the engineer fix the problem Mike and Kate kept company with the CO and XO of ANZAC.

"Well, well if it isn't Kate McGregor" Jack Sprint to CO said as Kate followed Mike up onto the Bridge.

"Sir, nice to see you again" Kate smiled uncomfortably the XO made his way over when he heard Kate's name

"Well if it isn't Princess Perfect come running back have you?" he said laughing at her, Mike moved forward

"Mike Flynn CO of Hammersley and you are?" he asked knowing full well this man had made Kate uncomfortable.

"Brady Kensington I'm the XO on this ship" he said smiling at Mike.

"Right well Kate is the XO on board Hammersley so I'd like it if you treated her with some respect" Mike said firmly

"Yes Sir" he said embarrassed.

"I'll just go check on how Charge is going" Kate said turning around

"I'll come with you" Brady said as he followed her.

Kate made her way towards the engine room with Brady following behind

"So Kate, how have you been. Missing us yet?" he said smirking at her

"Not really Hammersley is way better and accepting of a woman sailor" Kate said as she continued walking, Brady placed a hand on her shoulder as he pushed her against the wall

"You watch yourself Missy, If you have told anyone about what happened while you were on here, I'll know where to find you" he said placing a hand on her breast. Kate pushed him off

"Get off me, I haven't said anything" Kate said crossing her arms

"Good if you say anything I'll give you another scar to match the one you've got" he said moving and walking in front of her.

Neither one of them knowing Mike had made his way down the stairs overhearing and seeing their conversation.

Charge had gotten HMAS ANZAC's engine fixed just in time for Hammersley to answer to a distress call, Kate was super quite on the boat ride back to Hammersley as she looked back over at HMAS ANZAC she saw Brady watching her she looked back towards Hammersley and swallowed hard, Mike looked at Kate in confusion, he wanted to confront her about what he heard but knew that she wouldn't be happy that he stuck his nose in her business.

As they arrived back on Hammersley Nikki could tell something was wrong right away with the way Kate was acting she looked over at Mike who shook his head. Now was not the time, first they had to respond to this mayday then Nikki would talk to Kate obviously Mike had witnessed something because she could tell he was acting strange around her.

It was later that day when Nikki found Kate in the Galley after getting back from the distress call which turned out to be a man holidaying with his Wife and their yacht hit a reef, there was no damage except running out of fuel.

"Your quite" Nikki said confronting Kate as she came out of the galley

"Am I?" Kate asked as she made her way towards their cabin

"Yes, now what happened on ANZAC?" Nikki asked placing a hand on her shoulder

"Nothing, why would you say that?" Kate said stopping in front of their cabin

"Because you've been different since you got back, even the Boss noticed" Nikki said sternly

"Did he say something?" Kate asked worriedly as she opened the door and entered their cabin

"No but now you have to tell me" Nikki said following behind her. Kate sat down at her rack as Nikki followed her.

Kate just smiled weakly at her she wasn't sure exactly how she was going to explain things to her Best Friend, especially since she hadn't told anyone or spoken about it since it happened.

Here goes nothing

"Do you remember the XO of ANZAC, Brady Kensington" Kate asked trying to get the words out

"Yeah, he came on a few weeks before I left" Nikki said taking a seat next to Kate,

"Well… he made unwanted advances towards me, one night in my Cabin, he wouldn't take no for an answer and attacked me…" Kate said tears in her eyes

"What! Why didn't you report him?" Nikki asked surprised

"Because he said if I ever told anyone he'd give me a scar to match the one he gave me" Kate said as Nikki looked at her surprised Kate arose from her rack and lifted her shirt up to revel a deep scar that came went from under her bra line to her hip bone.

"Shit! Kate what happened?" Nikki said as she ran her finger over the scar

"When I tried to push him away he had a pair of scissors and pushed them into me as he dragged them down, he said if I ever told anyone he'd give me another scar to match" Kate said pulling down her t-shirt as she sat next to Nikki.

"Does it hurt?" Nikki asked as Kate sat back down next to her

"Sometimes, when it happened we had 2 weeks' shore leave the next day so it was able to heal without anyone knowing, but every day since then I was terrified to go on Patrol so when the transfer here came up I took it" Kate said smiling weekly at Nikki

"God, I'm sorry Kate if I had of know…" Nikki said pulling her into a hug.

"I didn't want anyone to know" Kate said hugging Nikki tightly.


	6. Chapter 6

Mike hadn't had a chance to speak to Kate about the incident that happened between them in the Senior Sailor's Mess a few days ago, or the fact that he overheard her conversation with the XO of HMAS ANZAC.

He found his opportunity when they were alone on the bridge together

"So Kate… About the other night" Mike began saying as Kate looked at him awkwardly

"Yeah look can we just forget it happened" Kate said hoping he'd drop it.

"We kissed you Kate, I don't want to forget that" Mike said looking at her hopeful

"It was an accident, it shouldn't have happened" Kate said shifting uncomfortably in her chair

"The first one maybe, but not after that" Mike said moving out of his chair to stand next to hers

"Kate…" Mike said knelling next to her

"Mike please… Don't make it any harder" Kate said looking at him sadly as she sifted out of her chair to stand.

Mike arose from his knee's as Kate made her way towards the exit of the bridge

"We agreed to keep it Professional" Kate said turning around

"Right, Professional, so keeping things Professional I overheard you and the XO of ANZAC" Mike said putting his foot in it

"What? You were eavesdropping on me?" Kate said angrily

"Not exactly, I was just coming to check on Charge's progress and overheard you" Mike said trying to make the situation better

"That would be classed as eavesdropping" Kate said crossing her arms

"Kate if he hurt you…"

"Exactly how much did you hear?" Kate asked with a worried look of her face

"Him saying he'll give you a scar to match the one you've got if you ever said anything" Kate's eyes widened

"What happened between you two Kate?" Mike asked moving forward to comfort her.

"Nothing, it doesn't matter" Kate said moving backwards

"Did he hurt you?" Mike asked sternly

"It doesn't matter ok, so just leave it" Kate said getting agitated

"Kate?"

"No Mike, just back off ok" Kate said turning around and exiting the bridge leaving Mike there speechless and worried for Kate's safety.

Hammersley had pulled into a foreign port for a few days while they Charge took apart the engine to clean it, they'd been having problems with it since they left Cairns so Mike checked with NAVCOM to see I it was alright and they agreed if it was only for a few days because they needed them out of Patrol.

Everyone who wasn't on watch was headed to the beach for a swim then to the pub for some drinks. Kate was in her cabin looking in the mirror as Nikki walked in.

She wolf whistled as she looked at Kate who was standing there in a two piece showing off every curve of her glorious body

"So you changed you mind, about coming swimming?" Nikki asked as she sat on their rack Kate turned around to face Nikki as she reached for her t-shirt

"I think I'll give it a miss" Kate said throwing her t-shirt on as Nikki looked at her confused

"What why?" Nikki asked

"Because I don't own any one piece bathers, and I don't want anyone asking questions" Kate said crossing her arms around her stomach.

"Is this about your scar?" Nikki asked as Kate sat next to her

"I don't want any one asking questions, especially Mike considering he overheard my conversation with Brady"

"What since when?" Nikki asked turning to face her

"He told me yesterday, he kept asking if he hurt me" Kate said arms still wrapped protectively around her stomach

"Kate, your Scar doesn't need to define you, it may be a part of you but it's a scar it doesn't need to be the centre of attention if you don't let it" Nikki said placing a comforting hand on Kate's shoulder.

"If it makes you feel any better I'll be wearing a 2 piece also" Nikki said hoping of the rack and reaching for her bikini that was in her bag. Kate smirked

"Fine, but then I'll need a stiff drink or two afterwards with no doubt all the comments I'll be hearing" Kate said arising and grabbing her towel, while Nikki went into the bathroom to get changed.

Swaine and RO were the officers of the watch so Nikki, Kate, Mike, Spider, ET and Buffer made their way to the beach.

Kate was sitting on the beach with her t-shirt still on while everyone was in the water, Spider and ET were diving around looking at the Marine life and Nikki was lying on a floaty with Buffer swimming next to her, Mike had noticed Kate sitting alone so he made his way out of the water.

Kate watched as Mike made his way over she slightly bit her lip as he walked out the water he was glistening in the sun from the water droplets all over his bare chest,

"Not coming in X?" Mike asked sitting next to her as he wiped his face with the towel

"Not today" Kate said smiling weakly at him

"Come on, it's nice and cool" Mike said playfully shaking his wet hair at her

"Gee thanks" Kate said laughing as she arose from the sand Mike following suite.

"Come on, there's a spare pool floaty" Mike said grabbing the watermelon shaped float from under the tree,

as Mike turned around he saw Kate taking off her shirt with nothing but a bikini on underneath, he knew she wasn't doing it but to him it looked kind of seductive especially with the hair flick at the end.

"You coming?" Kate said breaking him out of his trance as she threw her t-shirt in the sand.

Mike followed her towards the water as she moved her arms to put her hair up Mike couldn't help but noticed her amazing body and then he spotted her huge scar his eyes turned to one of hurt,

Kate didn't pay attention as she slowly made her way into the water and over to where Nikki and Buffer were.

"What's wrong with Boss?" Buffer said as Kate stopped next to Nikki they all looked over at Mike who was holding the pool float very closely against his thigh as he made his way into the water.

Kate looked at Nikki who was relaxing on the pool float, she smirked at Kate knowing full well what was wrong with the Boss.

Later that day everyone headed back to Hammersley to get changed to head out to the local bar except Mike and Kate.

"We should probably head back" Kate said as they were leaning against the pool float

"I guess" Mike said a little disappointed.

"What?" Kate asked looking at him, Mike smiled at her

"You do look pretty hot in that bikini Kate" Kate looked at Mike surprised

"What?" Kate asked surprised

"You still look as good as ever"

"You saw it didn't you?" Kate asked knowing full well he was trying to up her confidence

"Yeah…" Mike said smiling at her

"I knew it; this is why I didn't want to come. I'm going to head back; everyone will be wondering what happened to us" Kate said pushing the float out of the way to head back to shore

"Kate…" Mike said grabbing her around the waist and pulling her close, water splashing over bother their shoulders as their body's hit each other's.

Mike moved his hand along her stomach feeling her scar "He did this? Kate…" Mike said as he looked into her eyes, his other hand moving up to place a hand on her cheek.

Kate could feel his hand stroking up and down along her scar, she could feel tears forming in her eyes as he touched her cheek with his other hand

"Mike… We agreed" Kate began saying before she felt Mike's lips against hers, as he pulled away he spoke

"I'm so sorry Kate, if I had of stayed you'd never ended up there or ended up hurt" Mike said.

Kate pushed her fingers through his hair she leant in and kissed him more Passionately, Mike pulled Kate flush against him, feeling her scar against his body as he did this Kate wrapped her legs around Mike as their lips never left each other's.

The crew were walking past on their way to the bar when they spotted Mike in the water interlocked with a woman who had her back to them

"I wonder who that is with the Boss" Spider said pointing out to the water, which got Nikki's attention

"Looks like he's going to score tonight!" Buffer said laughing as they all continued to walk towards the Bar, Nikki watched on wondering if it was Kate as she hadn't been seen since the crew left.

Kate and Mike made their way into the bar later that night, every one cheered as Mike made his way over while Kate went to get some drinks, Nikki made her way over to Kate

"So, have fun at the beach today?" Nikki asked smiling at her

"Yeah, it was good" Kate said with a smirk on her face

"So did you leave after everyone else?" Nikki asked watching the glow in Kate's eyes

"Yeah, I had some paperwork I needed to finish why?" Kate asked as she grabbed the tray of drinks and walked over to the table.

Kate took a seat next to Nikki across from Mike, he smiled at her as he took his drink off the tray

"So Boss anything exciting happen today?" Spider joked as he watched Mike choke on his drink

"No why would you say that?" he said placing his drink down.

"We saw you playing fish with someone in the water" ET said smirking at Mike's reaction.

"What me? I think your mistaken" Mike said taking a big sip of his beer as he looked over at Kate who was taking a big sip of her wine.

Nikki noticed the whole night the glances between Mike and Kate that everyone else ignored and teased Mike about the girl from the beach. Kate made her way out of the bathroom later that night as Nikki cornered her at the bar

"So, do you enjoy you're make out session with the Boss?" she said surprising Kate

"What?" Kate asked looking at a wide eyed Nikki

"So? You can't hide it from me Kit Kat, I've been seeing the eyes you've made at each other all night" Nikki said smiling, Kate turned around and leant on the bar looking over at Mike she smiled

"Oh my god! It was more than that wasn't it?" Nikki said playfully hitting Kate's arm as she dragged her towards the bathroom door where it was quite

"Spill" she said to Kate excited, Kate just smirked at her

"You guys did it didn't you? In the ocean damn Kit Kat" Nikki laughed as the grin on Kate's face wouldn't disappear.

Kate and Nikki made their way back over to the table after Kate filled Nikki in on the Goss. Mike smiled at Kate as they sat back at the table, Nikki noticed this smirk as she took a seat nudging Kate's elbow slightly Kate rolled her eyes at her.

Kate left early when everyone else was on their 8th round of drinks, as she began the walk back to Port she heard a pair of footsteps come up behind her.

She felt a hand interlock with hers as she continued walking looking over at Mike she smirked.

"I can't believe the crew caught us today" Mike said as he walked along with Kate

"Correction, they actually caught you not us" Kate said laughing as Mike pulled her down a secluded path

"What are we doing here Mike?" Kate began asking as Mike placed a kiss on her lips

"We're breaking Navy Regulations" Kate said as Mike pulled away

"I know but I can't help myself" Mike said as he began kissing her neck

"Mike, I'm serious" Kate said placing her hands on his chest to stop him

"So am I, Kate I want to be with you" Mike said looking down at her

"It's not that easy, there's a lot of history between us and now we work together" Kate said hands still on his chest.

"I'll get a transfer" Mike said wrapping his arms around her waist

"You and I both know it's not that simple" Kate said placing a hand on his cheek

"There's so much history Mike, a baby working together"

"For now, can we just pretend?" Mike said leaning down to kiss her

"For now? Mike you haven't even asked me where our son is buried or anything, you can't just sleep with me and pretend like everything is like it was back then" Kate said as Mike moved back.

"I thought we had something?" Mike said moving back

"We do, but don't you want to know anything about the Past, after you left?" Kate said as Mike stared at her blankly

"I thought so, good night Sir" Kate said as she walked off back towards Hammersley leaving Mike alone.

He sleeps with her and just expects everything to be the same, it's not.

Not once has he asked about Michael or given a reason as to why he never showed up.

Could Kate be blinded by the way she feels for him and end up with a broken heart all over again?


	7. Chapter 7

Kate made her way onto the bridge the next morning, Hammersley was all repaired so they were able to leave Port and head back out on Patrol.

Kate was glad she didn't want to spend another day in a foreign port with nothing to do or having to see Mike 'outside' of work not after what happened between them.

Nikki didn't know about the 'talk' Kate and Mike had after leaving everyone at bar but she could defiantly sense something was different between them, especially the way they were acting around each other.

Mike was being really Bossy and Rude to Kate, while Kate was being quiet and strong-willed towards Mike. Nikki wasn't the only one to notice this, most of the crew had noticed as well Spider even put his foot in it when he spoke about the awkwardness between the Boss and XO, he got his head bitten off by Mike and a death glare from Kate.

Nikki cornered Kate in the Galley later that day while she was getting a snack and finishing her coffee

"Right, what's going on between you and the Boss?" Nikki asked as Kate turned around jumping in surprise

"God Nikki, what are you going on about?" Kate said placing her mug in the sink.

"You and the Boss, spill" Nikki said blocking the doorway

"I don't have time for this Nikki, I have my watch to do" Kate said angrily

"Ok that's enough" Nikki said grabbing Kate's hand and dragging her to the cold room, she shoved her in there locking the door behind her, a few minutes later the door opened and Nikki pushed Mike in locking it behind them again

"Nikki! Let us out!" Kate yelled

"Not until you work things out!" Nikki yelled back through the door

"Nav, open the door now" Mike said pounding the door

"Sorry Sir, no can do I've got my watch in a few minutes" Nikki said walking off

"Nikki!" Kate yelled as they both heard the footsteps disappear.

"Great! You know she won't be back until we talk?" Kate said as she flopped to the ground leaning against the wall. Mike slid down the wall, falling to sit next to her

"I guess we should talk then…" Mike said looking at her.

Kate sat there against the wall finding the right words to start a conversation, Mike sat there looking over at Kate also trying to find the right words to say.

"I'm sorry…" Mike began saying but stopped once Kate looked at him

"I don't want to hear any more sorrys Mike, I just want to know why? Why you didn't show up that day at the beach, why you don't want to know anything about my past. No excuses Mike, the truth" Kate said as she watched Mike's face change

"The truth… Right" Mike said shifting uncomfortably to sit across from Kate leaning against the opposite wall.

"I don't want to know about your past because I don't want to think of what it was like after losing Michael or when you got hurt or after I left, I can't bear to think that it all happened because I left" Mike said rubbing his hands together, Kate sat opposite him not sure what to say.

"It wouldn't have made a difference if you had of stuck around, it's no one's fault that he passed away and it's no one fault I got hurt" Kate said trying to reassure him.

"Kate… What happened after he passed away…" Mike said not looking up at her because he really didn't want to know,

Kate sighed as she leant hard against the wall "In those first few weeks I had flashbacks every day. I ruminated over the details of what happened for weeks, unable to think about little else. I took an extended leave and became really depression, some days I could barely speak at all. Finally, I went to see a psychiatrist who diagnosed me with trauma. It wasn't until I served on HMAS ANZAC that I started to become better with the help of Nikki she became my star who pulled me out of the darkness and we've been inseparable ever since." Kate said smiling at Mike who was now looking at her, she watched as his face changed

"What?" she asked confused

"I slept with Maxine" Mike blurted out

"That's not really knew news Mike" Kate said confused as to why he said that

"No I mean the night before I didn't show up at the beach" Mike said watching Kate's expression change.

"What?" Kate said with a croaky voice

"After I left yours I went over to Maxine's, we drank a little well actually a lot and one thing led to another and we slept together, I didn't show up the next day because I was still asleep"

"Still asleep with her" Kate said scoffing

"I don't know why I thought things had changed" Kate said arising to her feet Mike following suite

"It didn't mean anything" Mike said placing a hand on Kate's shoulder

"Except you went running to her like you've done in the past, I know you're best friends but that day was really important to me and you once again let me down" Kate said thumping on the door wanting to get out of there.

Spider was walking past the cold room hearing loud bangs, he unlocked the door and Kate rushed out leaving Mike standing there dumbfounded

"Sir?" Spider asked confused

"Don't you have a watch to do?" Mike said storming out and towards his cabin.

Kate was up on the bridge with Nav when Mike made his way up

"Listen up, we've been called back to Cairns apparently Hammersley is going to be on leave for a week while they do a full service" Mike said looking towards Kate who turned around to set a course home, this not going un noticed by Nikki

"I thought you two spoke?" Nikki said softly helping Kate put the coordinates in back to Cairns

"We did" Kate said trying to ignore her

"Well?" she asked,

"Nik I'd really like to forget about it ok, so can we get back to work" she said looking at Nikki

"Sure…" Nikki said knowing full well that something happened between Mike and Kate for them to be acting stranger than before.

Hammersley arrived back in Port just after 17:00 Kate and Nikki were in their cabin packing their shore leave bags when Mike stopped at their open door

"X, we have a meeting at NAVCOM in 40 minutes. I'll meet you there" he said as he walked past towards his cabin.

Nikki looked at Kate as she grabbed her whites from her bag and made her way to the bathroom to get changed.

"I'll be at home when you're done" Nikki said through the door

"Thanks Nik" Kate said back as she heard Nikki leave their cabin, she began to sob softly to herself.

After finding out what Mike did she didn't really want too se Maxine let alone with Mike.

Kate made her way towards Maxine's office following behind Mike as they entered Maxine got a massive grin at seeing Mike, Kate instantly felt sick she wasn't sure why they were seeing her but she just wished it would hurry up and be over.

"Take a seat" Maxine said pointing at the two empty chairs across from her, Kate and Mike sat down as she began speaking

"This is just a routine check in, as you know Hammersley will be on shore leave for a week to get a full service, we can't have you breaking down in the middle of the ocean" Maxine said with a smile,

Kate was getting agitated having to play happy co-workers right now, not with the way she was feeling towards Mike and Maxine.

"So I take it, you haven't found anywhere to live as of yet Kate?" Maxine asked opening a folder that was on her desk

"No Ma'am" Kate said as Maxine handed her a piece of paper

"A house as come up for rent, at the Navy base it's yours if you want it. I put in a good recommendation for you" Maxine said with a huge smile

"Ah, thank you Ma'am" Kate said looking over the piece of paper

"You can move in tomorrow if you like"

"Thank you" Kate said with a smile

"Right well, I hate to cut this short but I need to be somewhere" Maxine said arising from her chair

"Yes Ma'am, thank you" Kate said arising from hers as she turned around to leave, Mike looked over at Maxine as Kate was leaving

"Could I have a word?" he said to her

"See you on board Sir, Ma'am" Kate said leaving Maxine's office as she watched Maxine take a seat next to Mike and place a hand on his.

Kate arrived home in a partly good mood,

"Hey how did the meeting at NAVCOM go?" Nikki asked as she walked through the door

"Um, good quite odd but good" Kate said sitting down on the couch next to Nikki

"Oh do tell" Nikki said flicking the TV off

"Maxine, found me a house" Kate said watching Nikki's expression change

"Wow ok, that's a little more than odd, are you going to take it?" Nikki asked raising an eyebrow at Kate

"I don't know" Kate said handing her the piece of paper

"This looks amazing! An it's on base" Nikki said as her eyes widened at the photo on the page.

It was a beautiful 2 story house, with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and an amazing view over the ocean.

"You have to take it" Nikki said handing the paper back to her

"Yeah, I guess" Kate said unsure.

"Alright what's wrong?" Nikki asked seeing Kate's expression change.

"It's only a 6-month posting, I don't know if I'm ready to settle down or if I'm even going to stay after the 6-months are up" Kate said confused.

"How about you just think of the now and stop worrying about what's going to happen in 6-months' time" Nikki said placing a reassuring hand on her,

Kate's face lit up with a smile "Maxine said I can move in tomorrow" Kate said looking down at the piece of paper

"That's quick! I'll help you move in" Nikki said excited

"I don't' even have any furniture I don't think I'll need much help" Kate said smiling at Nikki

"Well according to this it comes furnished, so I'll help you move your bags in" Nikki joked

"Sounds like you can't wait to get rid of me" Kate said smirking

"Nah, I'll miss you but I know you're only going to be a few blocks away if I need a cup of sugar" Nikki said playfully hitting Kate's arm.

"Yeah, now come one I'm starving!" Kate said jumping off the couch and grabbing her keys

"Where are you going?" Nikki asked standing up

"The Pub, you coming?" Kate said throwing a pair of shoes at Nikki

"You can buy me a celebratory drink" Nikki said placing her shoes on her feet

"I think that's your job" Kate laughed as they made their way out of the house and towards the car.

Kate awoke the next morning with a huge headache, her and Nikki stayed well into the night celebrating more especially after the crew showed up which resulted in Charge bringing out his famous Guava Mojo's which went straight to Kate's head.

She barely remembers anything about the night before except for somehow getting home and sometime through the night throwing up. She slowly made her way into the lounge where Nikki was making a coffee in the kitchen

"Yes please" Kate said sitting at the table and placing her head in her hands

"Do you remember anything about last night?" Nikki asked handing her a coffee as she shielded her eyes from the morning sun streaming through the window.

"Not really" Kate said taking a sip of her coffee.

"I didn't have as many drinks as you but it seems like you were trying to forget something" Nikki said sitting across from her

"Why would you say that?" Kate said forcing her eyes open to look at Nikki

"Well, when I suggested we stopped and headed home you said no and that you wanted to forget, you also may have done something to the Boss" Nikki said looking at her

"I don't remember, I'm going to go and have a shower" Kate said arising from the table and taking her coffee with her not hearing the last part Nikki had said.

It was just after lunch when Nikki and Kate began taking her stuff over to her knew place, she had collected the keys from Maxine earlier that morning after her shower. Nikki had left just after dinner to let Kate get settled in properly.

Mike made his way over to Kate's place later that night to check on her, when Kate answered the door she slammed it in his face, memories of the night before came flooding back she had cornered him in the corner of the bar and had a go at him but not before she slapped him across the face. Kate opened the door once again to see a red cheeked Mike standing there

"Oh my god..." she said as she moved aside to let him in

"You don't remember do you?" Mike asked as he entered.

"I vaguely remember slapping you but nothing else" Kate said closing the door behind him,

"Well…" Mike said as he followed Kate to the lounge

"Oh god, I did something else didn't I?" she asked placing her hands over her face as she sat on the lounge.

Mike pulled out his phone and played a voice mail he received from Kate 'Mike… Whyy, I looove youu comeee hommee too mee, I looove youu' Mike stopped it with a smirk on his face as he sat next to Kate.

"It's not funny" Kate said hitting him on the arm

"I've never had anyone confess their love to me drunk before or through a voicemail" Mike said laughing.

"You can go now!" Kate said pushing him off the couch and towards the door

"But Kate" he said stopping and turning to face her

"What?" she said hands on her hips

"I looove yoouu" Mike said smirking

"Your hilarious!" Kate said as Mike couldn't stop laughing,

"I'm only joking" Mike said as he stopped laughing and smiled at her "You were too right?" Mike asked seriously

"What? Yeah absolutely" Kate said hiding her hurt feelings.

"Good… I mean we would want it to be weird between us having to work together and everything, although I deserve the slap, which I'm guessing was about Maxine" Mike asked standing in the door way, Kate just wanted to push him out and close the door

"Yeah, I was drunk, it didn't mean anything I promise" she lied through her teeth "And don't worry about the Maxine thing, it's not like we were together besides it felt pretty good to slap you" Kate said smirking.

"Right well I guess I'll get going" Mike said a little disappointed she didn't fight him more about Maxine.

"Goodnight Kate" he said walking through the door way

"Good night Mike" Kate said closing the door behind him.

Kate went to bed that night knowing full well she wasn't going to get any sleep, how could she be so stupid as to confess her love for him while she was drunk!

Luckily Mike didn't take her seriously however much it hurt her that he took it as a joke.

Lying there staring at the roof she tried to forget that last night ever happened, although getting to slap him felt pretty good.


	8. Chapter 8

Bloody Mike, Kate didn't get any sleep at all last night so instead she stayed up with a bottle of red which helped her get a little bit of sleep.

Nikki arrived the next day to check up on Kate knowing full well Mike had come over the day before, she made her way inside to see Kate spread out on the couch with an empty bottle of Red lying on the floor and a half full wine glass sitting on the coffee table.

"Oh Kit Kat" Nikki said as she leant next the couch brushing hair out of Kate's face, Kate slowly opened her eyes at Nikki's touch

"What happened?" Nikki asked as Kate moved to sit up.

"Mike dropped by last night" Kate said as Nikki moved to sit next to her.

"I take it things didn't go well" Nikki said leaning down and picking up the empty wine bottle.

"I drunk dialled him" Kate said rubbing her hands over her face

"What? Last night?" Nikki asked confused

"No, the night I slapped him, thanks for telling me by the way" Kate said shielding her eyes from the incoming sun through the window

"Sorry" Nikki said with a guilty look on her face "So what did you say?" Nikki asked curiously

"I confessed my love for him, through his voicemail"

"WHAT!" Nikki yelled as Kate covered her ears "Sorry" Nikki said once again.

"So what happened?" Nikki asked as she arose from the couch and made her into the kitchen to grab Kate some water,

"He asked me about it, if I was joking" Kate said as Nikki made her way back in handing her the glass of water and some tablets from her handbag "Thanks"

"So what did you say?" Nikki asked as Kate took the tablets and placed her glass on the coffee table

"I went along with it; said I was joking" Kate said leaning back into the couch.

"Did you two talk on board?" Nikki asked leaning back against the couch also looking at Kate

"Yeah, promise me to never do that again" Kate said looking at Nikki "He finally told me why he didn't show up at the beach that day"

"Oh yeah, what was his excuse?" Nikki asked watching Kate's expression change

"He slept with Maxine"

"What?" Nikki asked surprised,

"Yeah, after he left yours that night he went over to Maxine's and got drunk, the reason he didn't show up was because he was in bed with her" Kate said as her face scrunched up in disgust.

"Wow, ok how do you feel about that?" Nikki asked placing a hand on Kate's shoulder

"I told him it didn't matter; I mean we aren't or weren't together" Kate said feeling the tears form in her eyes

"How do you really feel about it?" Nikki asked brushing a piece of hair behind Kate's ear,

Kate just looked at Nikki and burst into tears, Nikki pulled Kate close as she rested her head in Nikki's lap as Nikki comforted her brushing strokes through her hair.

Nikki spent the rest of the day with Kate, not wanting to leave her alone or let her near any more alcohol so she took Kate out to the beach for the day, maybe being at her favourite place would make her forget things with Mike.

Nikki and Kate were walking along the beach when Nikki spotted Mike at the nearby café with Maxine

"Ah how bout we head back to my place for a coffee" Nikki said stopping in her tracks

"Um sure" Kate said turning around as Maxine spotted them

"Kate?" she yelled making her way over to Nikki and Kate, Mike following behind

"Hi Ma'am" Kate said as Nikki stood next to her a comforting hand on her back

"Maxine is fine, he Nikki" Maxine said smiling, Nikki smiled at Maxine.

Nikki could feel Kate beginning to tense up

"So Kate, Mike told me you moved into the house on Base?" Maxine said looking at Mike than back at Maxine

"Yes, it's great, thank you again Ma'am" Kate said smiling weakly.

"You're most welcome, you should organise a housewarming while on leave" Maxine said smiling, Mike looked at Kate awkwardly

"Yeah, I'll think about it" Kate said smiling and looking a Nikki

"Well, we've got somewhere to be so see you soon Ma'am, Sir" Kate said moving past and dragging Nikki with her, looking back over her shoulder she noticed Mike staring at her turning back to look at Nikki as they continued towards the car.

Kate was quite annoyed at the fact Maxine was telling her she should trow a housewarming, I mean yeah she got the house for Kate but she didn't really want Maxine and Mike playing happy families in her backyard or her house.

"You want to help me plan a party" Kate said to Nikki as they walked through her front door

"Um sure, are you going to do what Maxine suggested?" Nikki asked a little worried

"Yeah, but not because of what she said. I want to catch up and celebrate with friends" Kate said sitting on the lounge

"Do these friends include Maxine?" Nikki asked sitting next to her.

"Well it would be kind of rude if I didn't invite the woman who actually got the house for me" Kate said arising from the couch and grabbing a pad of paper and pen off Nikki's desk

"Right so, let's get planning" Kate said sitting back down next to Nikki who was quite reluctant to help but figured Kate needed some sort of event to help her settle in and hopefully she'll stay more than 6-months if she creates a home here.

"Sure" Nikki said smiling as she watched Kate jot down on the pad who to invite and what she needed for a party.

With the help of Nikki, they planned her house warming for a few days and the entire crew were able to attend except for ET and RO. Maxine was excited to receive an invitation and Mike was a little surprised.

Day of Kate's Housewarming:

To say she wasn't nervous would be a lie, she'd only really been working with the Hammersley crew for 2 weeks, and they seemed to have gotten used to the idea of a female Executive Officer bossing them around but Kate wasn't sure if they had warmed up to her as a completely separate person yet.

Nikki was the first to arrive, she helped Kate set up in the backyard for drinks and snacks. Swaine, Charge, Buffer and Spider arrived not long after Nikki and all made their way out the back to get some drinks, Charge brought his own ingredients to make his famous Guava Mojo's and Kate knew this was going to a great party.

Kate was in the kitchen grabbing some Ice when there was a knock at the door, answering it there stood Maxine, Mike and another person who looked like he was only 16

"Welcome!" Kate said smiling putting on a fake smile

"Kate, thanks for having us this is Ryan my son" Maxine said as Ryan stepped forward and shook Kate's hand

"Nice to meet you, alcohol out the back?" he said following the sounds of people laughing, Kate looked towards Maxine confused

"Don't worry he's actually 18" she said reassuring Kate

"Right, come in food and drinks are out the back everyone is already here" Kate said smiling as they moved past her to head out the back,

Mike avoided eye contact with Kate while he followed Maxine out the back. Kate made her way into the kitchen to continue what she was doing

"So Knocker had a kid hey?" Nikki said making her way in

"Apparently" Kate said turning around to look outside

"Did you know?" Kate asked leaning against the bench

"Not until today" Nikki said reassuring her.

"Come on let's go get a drink" Nikki said as Kate grabbed the ice and they made their way back outside to where everyone was laughing and drinking.

Kate could feel Mike watching her all night so when he went inside she made her way in and waited. Mike was coming out of the bathroom when Kate confronted him

"Hey" she said as he walked down the hallway

"Uh Hi" he said back surprised to even see her there

"Enjoying the party?" Kate asked as she followed him to the lounge

"Yeah, I was surprised though didn't think you'd be settling down" Mike said watching her face change

"Why?"

"It's a 6-month posting, just didn't think you'd be settling down once you finish" he said taking a seat on the lounge

"Right… Well, it's not a problem if I decided to stick around is it?" she asked sitting on the lounge down a little from him

"No, of course not!" Mike answered straight away surprising Kate.

Kate just smiled at Mike, "Good, I'll let you get back to it" she said pointing out the window to Maxine who looked a little lost without him.

As he looked out the widow Kate moved off the couch and headed towards her bedroom, looking back to where Kate had been Mike was surprised to see she'd gone then he heard her bedroom door.

Nikki noticing Kate was gone and Mike following her less than 5 minutes later was a little surprised and wondering if she needed to investigate.

Kate was in her room looking at an old picture of her and Mike when they were at Watson Bay when there was a knock on her door. Kate instantly pushed the photo under her pillow as her bedroom door flew open

"Mike?" she said surprised as he made his way in closing the door behind him

"It's not what it looks like" Mike said standing near the door

"What are you on about?" Kate asked confused

"Me and Maxine, we're not together" he said sitting next to her on the bed

"I didn't say you were" Kate said moving a little as he sat down

"We arrived here at the same time that's all" he said trying to reassure her

"It's fine Mike, you don't need to explain" Kate said putting her hands up

"Kate, you need to know I haven't been able to stop thinking about our talk we had" Mike said placing a hand on Kate's arm.

"I really am sorry, I wanted to be there for you but I just couldn't face it that's why I drunk myself silly"

"I asked you if it was too much, I asked you if you wanted to come and you said yes, if you didn't want to you should have said no" Kate said getting upset

"I won't get hurt again Mike not like that, not ever" Kate said moving to face him, Mike's eyes lit up as he saw tears forming in her eyes

"Did you mean it?" he asked

"What?" Kate said confused

"Last night when I played you that voicemail you left me, I asked if you were joking when you said you loved me"

"I was drunk Mike, I don't remember" Kate said standing up and pacing

"Kate… Do you love me?" Mike asked standing up and grabbing her hands to stop her from pacing.

"Mike please…" Kate said looking down at the floor

"Kate… Please I just need to know" he said placing a hand under her chin lifting it so she was looking at him.

"Yes…Yes, I do" Kate said as a tear fell down her cheek.

Mike leaned down

"Mike…" Kate said as Mike placed a kiss on Kate's lips as he pulled away Kate looked at him before leaning in for another kiss this time more Passionately, Mike moved them towards the bed lowering Kate down as he hovered above her, Kate placed her hands on his chest

"Wait… We can't do this" Kate said placing a hand over her mouth as Mike moved off her and laid next to her

"We really need to sort this out" Mike said lifting his hand and waving it over him and Kate.

"Yeah… I don't know if I can keep arguing with you and then kissing in private" Kate said looking over to him "I don't know if my feelings are going to change towards you" Kate said watching as Mike rolled over to look at her

"Kate… I know I've never said it but I do love you, I always have" Mike said placing his hand on her cheek.

Tears began to fall down Kate's cheeks again, Mike brushed them away with his thumb as he leaned in kissing her cheek

"I love you" he said as he did so just wanting to tell Kate he meant it.

As Mike leaned in for a kiss he noticed the photo under Kate's pillow

"Oh what's this?" he said grabbing it and turning it over surprised to see a photo of a younger looking them sitting at the beach together.

"I can't believe you still have this" Mike said looking over at her

"Well I was tempted to burn it, but I wanted to keep it for our son to know his Dad, but that didn't really you know…" Kate said turning the photo over which had a photo of Michael when he was just a day old taped on the back.

Mike smiled as he rubbed his finger over the photo "Where's he buried?" Mike blurted out, Kate turned to look at him surprised "Sorry, just blurted out" he said

"It's ok, he's buried at a very special place. Under the oak tree at Watson's Bay" Kate said watching Mike's face form a smile

"The place we had our first kiss" Mike said smiling at her

"And our last" Kate said looking at him

"Kate…" Mike began saying but Kate placed her finger over his mouth

"It's ok" she said as she leaned in and kissed him softly, Mike pushed the photo back under her pillow as he pulled her close kissing her Passionately.

Nikki made her way towards Kate's room worried since she'd been gone for quite a while, she opened Kate's door without even knocking and caught Mike and Kate in the middle of a Passionate kiss

"Oh God! I'm sorry!" she said slamming the door and making her way downstairs. Mike and Kate came running down less than 2 minutes later

"Nik, what did you see?" Kate asked hands over her face

"Nothing, I promise" Nikki said smirking

"I should go…" Mike said going outside to say goodbye to everyone, Kate looked back at Nikki who had a big smirk on her face

"Later!" Kate said smirking at her as Nikki made her way back outside.

Kate stood there feeling confused and nervous, could things actually become good for Mike and Kate maybe even great.

Is Kate willing to forgive Mike for leaving all those years ago?


	9. Chapter 9

Nikki stayed behind after everyone had left, it was about 8pm when Kate and Nikki had finished packing and cleaning up everything. Kate retreated to the couch after cleaning the dishes, Nikki following suite with two glasses of wine.

"Thanks" Kate said as Nikki handed her the wine glass

"So you and Mike?" Nikki blurted straight out as she sit next to Kate

"I don't know even know what it is yet, so don't put a label on it" Kate said taking a sip of her wine and placing the glass down on the table

"How many times is that now?" Nikki asked placing her glass next to Kate's

"What?"

"That you've kissed and almost got caught" Nikki asked holding her fingers up ready to count

"Well… Thee was that time in the Senior Sailors Mess, the one at the beach which was actually more, the one after we left the bar that night and today when you caught us" Kate said with a grin on her face as Nikki looked at her surprised

"Wow ok… But are you willing to risk your career for him?" Nikki asked watching Kate's expression on her face change.

"I've never forgiven him for leaving in the first place... but now it's different"

"Why because your older?"

"Well no but…"

"But what? You think he'll leave the ship for you?"

"Maybe…" Kate said looking at Nikki sadly.

"Kit Kat, I've worked with the man for 2 years and every time a promotion has come up he's turned it down, he doesn't want to leave Hammersley"

"Things might be different now" Kate said in defence

"Kate, if he doesn't want to leave Hammersley for a Promotion why would he leave it for you?" Nikki said realising how harsh her words were "Kit Kat I'm sorry, but you know it's the truth" Nikki said as Kate arose from the couch

"Nik, I know you're only trying to look out for me but it's my life" Kate said as Nikki nodded at her "The spare bedroom is made up, stay the night we can talk more tomorrow" Kate said as Nikki arose from the couch pulling her into a hug

"I'm just worried about you Kit Kat" Nikki said as she pulled away from the hug

"I know, and I love you for that" Kate said brushing a piece of hair behind Nikki's ear

"Now get some sleep, that's what I'll be doing. Night Nik" Kate said as she made her way upstairs

"Night Kit Kat" she said watching at Kate closed her bedroom door behind her.

Kate lied, she spent the entire night tossing and turning and crying into her pillow she couldn't help but think of what Nikki said, she would never leave Hammersley let alone for her she could see how happy he was there and no matter how much she was in love with him she couldn't take him away from his love for the Sea.

Kate got some sleep once she shut her brain off after realising what she needed to do. She awoke the next morning to the smell of Bacon, making her way downstairs she walked into the kitchen to Nikki making breakfast

"Morning" Kate said as she poured herself a coffee

"Morning Kit Kat, how'd you sleep?" Nikki asked as she handed her a plate of Bacon and Eggs.

"Horrible, but I know what I need to do" Kate said sitting at the table

"Really?" Nikki asked confused sitting across from her

"I'm going to ask for a transfer" Kate said watching as Nikki spat out her piece of Bacon

"What?" she asked wiping he mouth

"A transfer" Kate said taking a sip of her coffee

"Yeah I got that part, but why?" Nikki asked confused once again.

"It's too hard, and like you said he's never going to leave Hammersley it's just best if I move on I can't keep being around him every day" Kate said with sadness in her eyes

"You love him don't you" Nikki asked full well knowing exactly how her best friend was feeling

"Yeah I do, it's just too hard being around him. I can't keep arguing with him and then him kissing me. I want more than just that, I want marriage a family, and maybe it's just not meant to be with him" Kate said biting into a piece of bacon

"If this is about what I said last night Kate I'm sorry" Nikki said reaching her hand across the table

"It's not, I've been thinking about it for a while" Kate said squeezing Nikki's hand in reassurances.

"I've made a meeting to see Maxine today" Kate said

"Wow, so you're really doing this?" Nikki asked surprised

"Yeah"

"Where will you go?"

"I don't know wherever they send me I guess" Kate said digging into her breakfast as Nikki watched on in concern.

She didn't want Kate to leave, having her on board was great and getting to see her best friend was the best, better than the occasional phone call on birthdays or Christmas. But if it's what Kate needed to do then she'd support her 100%.

Kate made her way into NAVCOM later that day for her meeting with Maxine, knocking on her door she entered as she heard a faint 'come in' Maxine was surprised as to why Kate had called a meeting with her today

"Kate, welcome" Maxine said as Kate entered closing the door behind her

"Thanks for agreeing to see me" Kate said taking a seat across from Maxine

"Sure, I was surprised as to why you called a meeting, so what can I help you with?" Maxine said smiling at her

"I'd like a transfer" Kate blurted out

"Um ok, can I ask why?" Maxine said opening the folder in front of her

"Just some personal differences" Kate said not really wanting to tell her the truth.

"Ok, it says in your file you're only doing a 6-month serving on Hammersley" Maxine said looking up at her from the file

"Yes Ma'am" Kate said shifting uncomfortably

"So if I'm correct you're only doing a 6-month posting and you've only served for a month and a half and you'd like a transfer?" Maxine said a little confused.

"Yes Ma'am" Kate said watching Maxine's face change

"You only have 4 and a half months left to serve, could you not wait until you're 6-months are up?" Maxine asked confused a little as to why Kate wanted a transfer.

"Yes Ma'am, I could wait however personal things are affecting the way I'm doing my job" Kate said hoping she wouldn't ask questions

"Right well, I can try and find you a transfer but I don't think anything will become available for at least 6-months which is when you finish up on Hammersley anyway" Kate nodded her head

"I'll put your transfer request through, but I can't promise anything will come up straight away" Maxine said scribbling down in her file

"Thank you Ma'am I appreciate it" Kate said smiling weakly at her

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Maxine asked closing Kate's file

"No Ma'am" Kate said arising from her chair

"Alright, well I'll put the request through and let you know" Maxine said smiling at Kate as she arose from her chair

"Thank you Ma'am" Kate said saluting her before she made her way out and towards her car.

Kate was making her way to her car when she heard Mike's voice

"Kate" she heard him call as she turned around

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked surprised

"I had a meeting with Commander White" Kate said watching his eyes open wider in surprise

"Do you mind if I ask why?" he said sort of scared for the answer

"I asked for a transfer" Kate blurted out as she opened her car door

"What? Why?" he asked surprised

"Because I can't keep doing this" Kate said moving behind her car door

"Doing what?" Mike asked

"If you don't know then there no point in discussing it, see you on board Sir" Kate said hoping in her car and driving off leaving Mike standing there confused.

**Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews, next Chapter I'll be skipping forward a few Months to where Kate gets her transfer and how Mike reacts when he finds out she's leaving, don't forget to review xx**


	10. Chapter 10

**2 Month's Later:**

Today was it her last day in Cairns, Maxine had called her a few weeks earlier saying that her transfer had gone through and she was going to be moved to HMAS Melbourne.

Kate had tried to avoid Mike while she finished up her last few weeks on Hammersley and part of her wished he would beg her to stay. But he didn't so she took it as a sign he didn't care as much as he said he did.

Nikki was heartbroken that Kate was actually leaving but she knew Kate needed to do what was best for her and if that meant moving and starting from scratch she would support that.

Kate had to leave early for the airport, luckily she didn't really own any furniture so she was able to fly down to Melbourne rather than drive all the way there which would have taken 1 and a half days.

Nikki had driven her to the airport for her flight that was at 10am, they shared a tearful goodbye but Kate promised to visit and call more.

Kate was lined up ready to board the plane when she heard someone shouting her name turning around she saw Mike running towards her

"Mike?" she asked surprised as he stopped in front of her pulling her out of the line

"Kate… You can't go" Mike said out of breath

"Why not?" Kate asked Wondering why he would choose to now ask her to stay

"Because, I love you I want you to stay"

"I can't my transfer has already gone through Mike" Kate said seeing the disappointed look on his face

"Please stay" Mike said placing a hand on her cheek

"I can't, I need to move on your life is here on Hammersley, I'm not going to take you away from that" Kate said looking up at him as his eyes started to tear up

"Please Kate, I love you I want to be with you no matter what, I'll leave Hammersley" Mike said saying anything to get her to stay

'Final boarding call for flight from Cairns to Melbourne, please go to gate 5' the lady over the intercom said

"I have to go" Kate said brushing a hand through his hair as she leant in and kissed his cheek as she did so she whispered in his ear 'I love you' before moving back and descending on the plane.

Mike stood there watching out the window as Kate's plane took off, sighing in defeat as he just lost Kate he turned around to go home.

Mike was lying on the couch later that night with a bottle of scotch and a photo of him and Kate, contemplating over what he didn't do to get her to stay taking a drink from the bottle of scotch he was broken out of his daze by a knock on the door slowly arising from the couch he made his way over to the door placing the scotch on the table he opened the door he was surprised to see who was standing on the other side

"Kate?" he said reaching out to touch her making sure she was real

"But I saw you leave, I saw the plane take off" Mike said as he moved aside to let her in

"I couldn't do it, by the time I realised I wanted to come back it was too late I rang Nikki and caught the first flight back to cairns" Kate said turning around to face him

"You came back?" Mike asked surprised, Kate looked around his lounge noticing the half empty scotch bottle and a photo of him and Kate

"Did you mean it?" Kate asked looking at him "When you said you loved me, that you wanted to be with me?" Kate asked as Mike moved closer to her placing his arms around her waist

"Yes I've always felt something missing in my life, I didn't know it was you until you showed up on Hammerlsey. Kate I want to be with you no matter what and if that means leaving Hammerlsey I'll do it" Mike said brushing a piece of hair behind Kate's ear "I love you Kate, I always have" Mike said as he leaned in for a kiss, Kate placed her finger on his mouth

"I love you Mike, but I won't be second to Hammersley" Kate said as Mike nodded his head Kate leaned in and kissed him Passionately manoeuvring them towards his bedroom.

**2 Years Later:**

Mike left Hammersley the day after Kate came back home, Maxine was not only disappointed but angry that Mike decided to leave Hammersley for Kate she had been trying to pursue him for years and that's why she kept giving him promotions but each time he'd turn them down.

Mike went over Maxine's head to the BRASS about getting a shore posting they were a little disappointed that Mike and Kate had broken the Navy Regulations while they were still serving together but looked past it knowing it only happened once and that Mike was very highly appreciated in the Navy.

Kate was given the CO position on Hammersley when Mike left and Nikki was promoted to XO.

Kate and Mike are celebrating their 2-year anniversary this week and Kate surprised Mike with the news that they were going to be parents (again) Mike surprised Kate by proposing he had been planning it for a few Months and all he wanted was or Kate to become his Wife.

They married in an intimate ceremony at the registers office just the two of them and Nikki as a witness.

It's not a fairy tale but they did live happily ever after together…


End file.
